We are delighted to announce that Katherine Brabon has won the 2016 Australian/Vogel's Literary Award with her novel The Memory Artist!

At an awards ceremony held at Allen & Unwin's offices in Sydney, Tom Keneally announced Katherine Brabon the winner from the shortlist of four young writers, in what judges Stephen Romei and Rohan Wilson called the strongest shortlist they've seen for the award:

"As judges the task we set ourselves is to find the best young talent, and the best novel that’s going around at the moment in Australia. And this year, it’s pretty safe to say we’ve managed to find four absolutely brilliant new writers, four absolutely brilliant novels. I think it’s fair to say it’s the strongest shortlist we’ve seen, I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. They’re seriously huge talents."

"A haunting, poignant and beautifully written novel, and a moving meditation on loss, memory and the impact of generational terror." - Jenny Barry, BooksPlus

"Katherine Brabon's intelligent, emotional, historically-acute Russia-themed novel is a stirring reminder that Australian literature can rise up to be anything it wants to be." - Stephen Romei, Literary Editor, The Australian

"The characters are deep and rich, and the setting is never less than convincing... keeps you reading just through the sheer quality of it all." - Rohan Wilson